British viewers had high hopes that Electro Velvet would be able to achieve a decent Eurovision Song Contest result this weekend in Vienna, but alas it wasn’t to be as the United Kingdom failed at Eurovision yet again, finishing 24th with just five points. In truth, hopes were based on good will for Alex Larke and Bianca Nicholls who had been hand picked to sing ‘Still In Love With You’ by an internal selection panel responsible for the United Kingdom’s Eurovision Song Contest entry. Electro Velvet’s song had proved popular with Eurovision fans and they worked tirelessly to support their entry in Vienna. It quickly became clear that compared to other delegations, the BBC effort lacked cohesion, understanding and leadership. Whilst entries such as the eventual winner from Sweden had been tried, tested, perfected and locked down through the course of a six week selection show, Electro Velvet had their first runRead More

The 2015 Eurovision Song Contest has a theme of Building Bridges and it seems to be having a positive effect for one of Eurovision’s strongest supporters – the LGTB community. There is no doubt that Conchita Wurst’s Eurovision Song Contest victory has had a positive effect on the cause of equality. She dedicated her Eurovision win to all those who hope for equality and unity, stating. “This night is dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom. You know who you are. We are unity and we are unstoppable.” Conchita has taken up the cause of equality for the LGTB community and was hailed by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon who called her victory ‘an electrifying moment of human rights education’ and said ‘she confounds people’s preconceived ideas of gender and sexuality – and she appeals to them to accept her as she is.’ ARead More

The chances of success for the 2015 United Kingdom Eurovision Song Contest entry have been drastically reduced by the staging according to the massing journalists in the Eurovision Press Centre. There was real hope amongst Eurovision Song Contest journalists, fan sites, bloggers and Eurovision fans that we would be reporting on a song with a strong act on stage and a strong stage performance. Usually two out for three ain’t bad. At Eurovision, United Kingdom fans would be glad for one out of three. The problem is that the strong song and strong act are washed away by the poor staging. Everything had been moving towards a good song. A strong stand-out entry, excellent vocalists with growing stage presence, a solid Eurovision promo tour, a well produced promo video prepared in advance and record United Kingdom Eurovision YouTube viewing numbers all pointed to very good score potential. But hopes of successRead More

Three days into rehearsals at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest and Europe’s most popular television show has yet to deliver a truly explosive moment to set the competition alight. The highlight from the first three days of rehearsals is the Russian first rehearsal, ensuring Russia are seen as potential Eurovision Song Contest winners this year. Polina Gagarina, Russia’s Gaga as she’s being dubbed in the Eurovision press centre in Vienna, pushed Russia firmly into contention for a second Eurovision Song Contest win with a pitch perfect performance of her entry ‘A Million Voices’. Read more about my review of Russia’s 2015 Eurovision chances on Metro online here The stage is a contender for the best Eurovision stage of all time and the organisation on the ground here in Vienna is pretty much perfect. The press centre is performing brilliantly so far, internet is reliable and the team of volunteers areRead More

It seems incredible to think that an entire year has passed since that moment that Conchita Wurst stood victorious on the Eurovision Song Contest stage in Copenhagen and declared: ‘This night is dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom. You know who you are. We are unity and we are unstoppable.’ The moment came as a result of two years of dedication after finishing second in the Austrian Eurovision selection final of 2012. In 2013, Austria was absent from the Eurovision Song Contest, claiming that it was too political and they didn’t stand a chance of qualifying for the final. Even broadcaster ORF hadn’t realised the potential of the Unstoppable Conchita Wurst. In 2014, ORF gave the nod to Conchita, the brainchild and creation of the incredibly talented Tom Nuwirth. As Conchita, Tom toured Europe, performing at every available preview show, tirelessly promoting Conchita andRead More

Benny Royston is the new editor of Eurovision Song Contest website ESCBuzz.com. Benny has experience as Manager and Chief Editor at esctoday.com, which remained the most visited independent Eurovision Song Contest site while he worked there. He is also the Eurovision Song Contest blogger for Metro UK and will be reporting for them again this year in Vienna. From today, ESC Buzz has a voice and opinion of it’s own. Benny Royston is a leading Eurovision Song Contest Expert based in the United Kingdom. He has provided commentary, opinion and debate on television from Iceland to Israel and many places in between. He has served on national selection juries and panels in several countries and has an ear permanently wired to the Eurovision Grape Vine. He will now be providing opinion and his take on all things Eurovision in the all-new ESC Buzz Blog. “It’s great to be writing for theRead More

The United Kingdom will be represented by Electro Velvet at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna with the song ‘I’m Still in love with you’. The entry was announced via the BBC1 Red Button on Saturday 7th March. The song is described as having an: ‘up-tempo beat and an irresistibly catchy hook.’ In a year with so many ballads at the Eurovision Song Contest, this song may have come at a good time and it looks like Electro Velvet might stand out at the 2015 final in Vienna on May 23rd. It’s the third time the United Kingdom has gone with a duo on the Eurovision Song Contest Stage. The nation’s 1959 entry ‘Sing Little Birdie’, 1982’s One Step Further by Bardo and 2003 headline grabbing Jemini (for the UK’s nul points disaster) are the only other occasions where the male-female duet has been employed. Electro Velvet are a duo: Alex Larke,Read More

A new Eurovision Song Contest drama unfolded in Germany last night at the end of the national final to select the country’s Eurovision entry descended into chaos. An already over-complicated selection show used a three stage national televote to select the winner at Unser Song für Österreich. In a further twist, it turns out that Germany will now be represented by British-born Ann-Sophie with her song ‘Black Smoke’! After Andreas Kummert was declared the winner, he decided he didn’t want to represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna and gave his place to the loser of the Super Final. He shocked Germany and caused confusion with the presenters when he was given the microphone for an acceptance speech and instead said “Right now, I’m not in a situation where I’m able to accept that choice and therefore I have to give my title to Ann Sophie”. AndreasRead More

Just 10 days before Sweden picks their Melodifestivalen winner to send in search of a sixth victory at the Eurovision Song Contest, four men are leading the race to become Sweden’s ever male soloist Eurovision Song Contest winner. Sweden’s first two Eurovision Song Contest victories came via bands, and the last three have all been female solo artists. That could all change this year with Eric Saade, Jon Henrik Fjallgren, Mans Zelmerlow and Magnus Carlsson all tipped to lead the betting for a Eurovision win if they are selected to fly the Swedish flag in Vienna at the 60th Eurovision Song Contest. For those looking for a bit of pre-Eurovision musical entertainment, the Swedish final is broadcast in HD live on the Internet at 7pm UK on Saturday 14th March on www.svt.se. With four strapping Swedish men fighting with such strong songs to capture the Melodifestivalen crown, will one of theseRead More

The campaign by fans to see Bucks Fizz perform at the Eurovision Song Contest 60th anniversary show “Eurovision’s Greatest Hits” moved from a social media phenomenon to UK Entertainment section of leading Sunday papers yesterday. Fans began tweeting the BBC and EBU on Wednesday night with the hashtag ‘#iwantmyfizz’ and as the Sunday Mirror reports, it began trending worldwide. Social Media has focussed on Facebook and Twitter with the #iwantmyfizz hashtag and includes Youtube, audioBoom, Instagram and Canva. UK fans of the Eurovision song Contest want to see the original members of smash hit 1980s band, Bucks Fizz Cheryl, Mike, Jay (and they hope Bobby) perform at the special event that will be recorded at the Eventim Hammersmith Apollo in London to be broadcast across 21 European countries and the Eurovision’s most recent competitor, Australia. A Facebook page was set up and is already approaching 1,000 likes. Clearly, the iconicRead More